Adoption of vehicular ad hoc networking protocols by networked robots

This paper focuses on the utilization of wireless networking in the robotics domain. Many researchers have already equipped their robots with wireless communication capabilities, stimulated by the observation that multi-robot systems tend to have several advantages over their single-robot counterparts. Typically, this integration of wireless communication is tackled in a quite pragmatic manner, only a few authors presented novel Robotic Ad Hoc Network (RANET) protocols that were designed specifically with robotic use cases in mind. This is in sharp contrast with the domain of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). This observation is the starting point of this paper. If the results of previous efforts focusing on VANET protocols could be reused in the RANET domain, this could lead to rapid progress in the field of networked robots. To investigate this possibility, this paper provides a thorough overview of the related work in the domain of robotic and vehicular ad hoc networks. Based on this information, an exhaustive list of requirements is defined for both types. It is concluded that the most significant difference lies in the fact that VANET protocols are oriented towards low throughput messaging, while RANET protocols have to support high throughput media streaming as well. Although not always with equal importance, all other defined requirements are valid for both protocols. This leads to the conclusion that cross-fertilization between them is an appealing approach for future RANET research. To support such developments, this paper concludes with the definition of an appropriate working plan

Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks

In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge, and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control, learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity, localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature, and identify topics that require more research attention in the future

Lightweight Simulation of Hybrid Aerial- and Ground-based Vehicular Communication Networks

Cooperating small-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will open up new application fields within next-generation Intelligent Transportation Sytems (ITSs), e.g., airborne near field delivery. In order to allow the exploitation of the potentials of hybrid vehicular scenarios, reliable and efficient bidirectional communication has to be guaranteed in highly dynamic environments. For addressing these novel challenges, we present a lightweight framework for integrated simulation of aerial and ground-based vehicular networks. Mobility and communication are natively brought together using a shared codebase coupling approach, which catalyzes the development of novel context-aware optimization methods that exploit interdependencies between both domains. In a proof-of-concept evaluation, we analyze the exploitation of UAVs as local aerial sensors as well as aerial base stations. In addition, we compare the performance of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) for connecting the ground- and air-based vehicles

Multi-objective performance optimization of a probabilistic similarity/dissimilarity-based broadcasting scheme for mobile ad hoc networks in disaster response scenarios

Communications among crewmembers in rescue teams and among victims are crucial to relief the consequences and damages of a disaster situation. A common communication system for establishing real time communications between the elements (victims, crewmem-bers, people living in the vicinity of the disaster scenario, among others) involved in a disaster scenario is required. Ad hoc networks have been envisioned for years as a possible solution. They allow users to establish decentralized communications quickly and using common devices like mobile phones. Broadcasting is the main mechanism used to dissemi-nate information in all-to-all fashion in ad hoc networks. The objective of this paper is to optimize a broadcasting scheme based on similari-ty/dissimilarity coefficient designed for disaster response scenarios through a multi-objective optimization problem in which several per-formance metrics such as reachability, number of retransmissions and delay are optimized simultaneously

Hybrid LoRa-IEEE 802.11s Opportunistic Mesh Networking for Flexible UAV Swarming

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and small drones are nowadays being widely used in heterogeneous use cases: aerial photography, precise agriculture, inspections, environmental data collection, search-and-rescue operations, surveillance applications, and more. When designing UAV swarm-based applications, a key "ingredient" to make them effective is the communication system (possible involving multiple protocols) shared by flying drones and terrestrial base stations. When compared to ground communication systems for swarms of terrestrial vehicles, one of the main advantages of UAV-based communications is the presence of direct Line-of-Sight (LOS) links between flying UAVs operating at an altitude of tens of meters, often ensuring direct visibility among themselves and even with some ground Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs). Therefore, the adoption of proper networking strategies for UAV swarms allows users to exchange data at distances (significantly) longer than in ground applications. In this paper, we propose a hybrid communication architecture for UAV swarms, leveraging heterogeneous radio mesh networking based on long-range communication protocols—such as LoRa and LoRaWAN—and IEEE 802.11s protocols. We then discuss its strengths, constraints, viable implementation, and relevant reference use cases

Implementation, Evaluation, and Applications of Mobile Mesh Networks for Platforms in Motion

This thesis explores the selection, implementation, and evaluation of two mobile mesh networks, each involving a different distributed computing problem. In the forthcoming discussion, it will become apparent how system constraints affect the optimal choice of mesh networking design and implementation in these cases. The first problem explores the design and implementation of a distributed computing mesh network that will allow a collection of autonomous land vehicles to gather, process, and exchange information in an unknown environment. This network was established by adapting standard commercial 802.11 routers and by providing a software framework that handles all communication between wireless nodes. The second problem involves the design of a network for tracking and monitoring personnel. This network was implemented utilizing ZigBee modules due to power and custom implementation constraints. Both networks were tested with respect to their specific design constraints and they lay the foundation for additional application development and research